14 April 2016

Thanks for being part of our April release. We are delighted with all your comments and positive input on our new stamps! Today we have more inspiration for you. But first let's announce our giveaway winner...

April Release Giveaway Winner

Cheryl Quilts

(Please use the contact form so we can coordinate your prize.)

The designers created so many beautiful projects with our new stamps. Here I included a few new ones that you may not have seen yet...

Make sure to click on the designers' names and take a closer look at their projects. We'll be back on May 1st. with a fantastic new release and giveaways (we'll have extra prizes). So mark your calendars and stay tuned!

06 April 2016

This month I'll be featuring new Thermoweb Decofoil techniques and tutorials on how to create unique foiled effects on paper. Today I'm sharing the first tutorial. You'll learn in a few quick steps how to create unique distressed backgrounds using foil. The result is almost as if you would have painted, splattered and splashed your paper with paint only with a much more beautiful texture, foil.

To achieve the foil distressed effect You will need these basic supplies (detailed on the supply list above). I'm using spray adhesive and an adhesive pen today but I have tried a different distressed foiling technique before with another adhesive (see tutorial here).

1. Protect your work surface and spray a piece of patterned cardstock with the spray adhesive. To create different splatters try out spraying the paper from different distances. The further you spray the smaller the splatters will be. For bigger splashes spray closer to the paper.

2. Once sprayed place a Decofoil transfer sheet right on top the paper and run it through a Minc machine or laminator at the lowest setting (in this case 1). This step isn't strictly necessary. If you do not own any of these machines all you need to do is wait between 15 to 30 seconds once the adhesive is applied until it gets a bit tacky and then transfer the foil, burnishing softly with the help of your fingers. (Since the result we're looking for is distressed it really won't matter if the foil doesn't transfer perfectly to the paper.)

3. Remove the foil to reveal your first layer of foil distressing. You can always add more splatters if you wish.

4. Use the adhesive pen to draw random splatters around the edges and even larger dots.

5. Then cover the paper with a gold Decofoil transfer sheet and run through a Minc machine or laminator. (Again you can skip this step if you wait until the glue gets tacky.)

6. Peel the transfer sheet to reveal the second layer of distressed foiling in gold.

This technique is super easy to achieve and it creates unique backgrounds every time. You can get a lot of backgrounds from 1 single foil transfer sheet and you really don't need that much adhesive, so this DIY is very affordable too! Make sure you visit Thermoweb's shop to check out their Decofoil line of adhesives and transfer sheets.
I hope you enjoyed today's post. If you found this tutorial useful please let me know in the comments. I will be back soon with a second technique using Decofoil, so stay tuned!

01 April 2016

Welcome to our April release, blog hop and giveaway! Today a group of incredibly talented designers is ready to share with you an outstanding collection of inspiration projects using the new digital stamp sets from this release. I too have a few creative ideas for you...

Here I printed this beautiful flower twice on vellum and colored it from the back with alcohol markers. To learn how I printed and heat embossed this flower in gold check out my video. The dimension on the flower is achieved by fussy cutting each petal and leaf and off-setting them once they're adhere on top of the main image. I added the vellum layer over a fun ombre stenciled background (see tutorial here) and added a little banner with an encouraging sentiment to finish my card.

For my second card I went for a striking foiled look that is actually very difficult to photograph! I used a technique I call Foil Resist with which I can mix foiling and watercoloring. I will have a tutorial on it very soon, so stay tuned. Again I printed and heat embossed in gold sparkle my floral collage image on vellum and did some partial cutting to allow some of the edges of the image to stand outside the vellum banner. I colored it too with alcohol markers from the back. The bold and encouraging sentiment finishes the card beautifully.

Now it's time to see what the designers created... From home decor to gifts, I'm sure you'll be inspired. Hop along and leave a comment on every stop for a chance to win a NEW stamp set of your choice!

Make sure to visit the SHOP and take a closer look to our new release.

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to follow me on social media for more inspiration and giveaways! Subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss out. See you next week, when I'll announce the winner of our blog hop.

Hi, I'm Gracie. Welcome to my home for all things crafty! I'm glad you're here! Be sure to browse the tabs on top to learn more about me and my work. I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss any of my new projects, tutorials and giveaways! Thank you for stopping by!